Standard and Poor's CNX Nifty

The Standard & Poor's CNX Nifty stock index is endorsed by Standard & Poor's and composed of 50 of the largest and most liquid stocks found on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India. It is commonly used to represent the market for benchmarking Indian investments. Similar to other major stock indexes like the S&P 500, companies must meet certain requirements in terms of market capitalization and liquidity before they can be considered for inclusion in the index.

As of April 2017, the stocks in the Standard & Poor's CNX Nifty (also known as "Nifty 50") represented about 62.9 percent of the free float market capitalization of all stocks in India's stock exchanges. The total traded value of Nifty 50 index constituents for the last six months, ending March 2017, is approximately 43.8 percent of the traded value of all stocks on the NSE. Impact cost of the Nifty 50 for a portfolio size of Rs.50 lakhs is 0.02 percent for the month March 2017.

Nifty 50 Index has become the largest single financial product in India, with an ecosystem, comprising exchange traded funds (onshore and offshore), exchange-traded futures and options (at NSE in India and at SGX and CME abroad), other index funds and OTC derivatives (mostly offshore). The Nifty 50 is ideal for derivatives trading. In fact, it is the world’s most actively traded contract. WFE, IOMA and FIA surveys endorse NSE’s leadership position.

CNX stands for the Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) and the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). These two bodies own and manage the index within a joint venture called the India Index Services and Products Ltd. (IISL). IISL is India's specialized company focused upon the index as a core product. Without the additional abbreviation to S&P CNX, the index name would be S&P CRISIL NSE Index.

The Nifty 50 comprises 50 diversified stocks in 12 sectors of the Indian economy. It is used for a variety of purposes, including benchmarking fund portfolios and index-based derivatives and index funds. The index was initially calculated on full market capitalization methodology. Since June 26, 2009, the computation has used the free float methodology. The base period for the CNX Nifty index is November 3, 1995, which marked the completion of one year of operations of National Stock Exchange Equity Market Segment. The base value of the index has been set at 1000 and a base capital of Rs 2.06 trillion.